Turn signal bulb holder giving up the ghost?

Bmachine

Bmachine

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After doing some cleaning up on the wiring of the front turn signals, I noticed that when I re-inserted the bulb in there at first it wouldn’t work anymore. I pulled it out and noticed it was really hard to get it back in there. But I pushed hard enough until it actually made contact and it started working again. But it wouldn’t hold securely. So I cleaned everything in there with CRC first which didn’t really make any difference and then as I noticed that the two spades were really hard to push in I used some WD-40 until they went in and out nice and smooth. But it was still incredibly hard to push the bulb in and it when it finally went in it would work (confirming correct wiring), but it wouldn’t do the quarter turn to lock it in place. Evidently there must be some corrosion or age related issue deep in there.

Has anyone been able to rejuvenate these ?

Gary @m5bb had this excellent thread many years ago and I’m thinking of going down that route. But it involves a non-reversible modification on the assembly. Since it is invisible I don’t really have a problem with it, but I was wondering if anyone had an easier solution to try first

Turn signal fixtures- repair for light sockets

Here is a fairly simple repair for the light bulb sockets in the front turn signal housings. As you know the socket bases go bad and then the bulbs won't work. I cannot find a replacement socket. These housings were going out for re-chrome so had to had a fix before that happened...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com

IMG_3816.jpeg
 
Absent any better option I decided to take the plunge and implement Gary's mod.

First, saw off the existing bulb holder section of the turn signal assembly. Always a bit nerve wracking to cut off an original part but a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

IMG_3869.jpeg

Second, enlarge the resulting hole with a reamer so the new holder can fit in. IIRC, it needs to be 25mm

IMG_3832.jpeg

Third, build a jig to hold a jigsaw with metal blade upside down in order to cut the needed slots for the new holder to twist into:

IMG_3870.jpeg IMG_3834.jpeg

This takes a bit of practice but should end up something like this:

IMG_3872.jpeg

Once done, it looks like this and works perfectly

IMG_3836.jpeg

Note that one side was a bit looser than I liked so I purchased a set of rubber gasket 1" / 25mm which sealed perfectly

Than you Gary!
 
Last edited:
Well done.
I think it is a really nice and well executed fix.

As the base is chromed and you've cut a bigger hole in it, it now has exposed edges on the chrome. The chrome will start delaminating from that fresh edge.

I would seal it with some generic paint and a small touch up paint brush.
 
Thanks for sharing and nicely executed. Can you please share the link to the bulb bases that you purchased. Thanks.
 
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